A Seeing Eye App

The visually impaired face plenty of challenges in a world not designed for their impairment. In cities, this disparity is even greater, where the populace has to interact with plenty of businesses, people, and infrastructure for assistance. However, there are groups hoping to improve the quality of life for this population by bridging business and infrastructure with audible technology through one’s phone.

An application recently developed, called BlindSquare, operates by using a smartphones GPS, Four Square, and Open Street Map. Using an audible, synthetic voice, this app provides a visually impaired person with the opportunity to find out useful information, such as the nearest post office to the best rated café in midtown. With a shake of your smartphone, BlindSquare will announce your location to you along with information about what is around you. In need of directions but don’t want to take out your phone? BlindSquare periodically announces the distance walked and direction traveling.

Applications such as Google Maps, Yelp, FourSquare, and others help any person ease the anxieties created by a massive city. The visually impaired, until recently, faced those anxieties without aid and now they have a fighting chance to enjoy the city as any other person can.